Marios Chatzidimou, aged 14, is a Greek student who won the gold medal in the 41st UPU Letter Writing Competition for Young People. Participants were asked to send a letter to an athlete or a sports personality they admire to tell him or her what the Olympic Games mean to them.
In a brilliantly written letter, Marios Chatzidimou sent his letter to tennis champion Roger Federer and moved the international jury.
Young Chatzidimou compared Federer to ancient Olympia’s athletes such as Diagoras of Rhodes. For the 14-year-old Greek student, Olympic values run something like this: “Participation, entering the contest, is already a great victory, regardless of the trophy. A victory against fears, insecurity and difficulties, of yourself, against your own vanity and selfishness.”
But he goes further to modern Olympics’ other issues, like drugs. “Ruin of the athlete and libel on sports is the only outcome of such acts,” writes Chatzidimou. The Olympic Games should be described as a joy of participating, fair play, friendship and peace, not anabolic steroids, championship or financial benefits, comments young student.
The jury complimented his simple and creative writing style. “The composition is original, very personal and stylistically creative. The modern and historic Olympic values come out very strongly,” it said.
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